RUTGERS: James hits his groove

PISCATAWAY — The reaction following Paul James’ season-opening performance took so long to flush out that the sophomore had to limit his calls to close friends.

That’s life this week for James, who rushed for the most yards (182) by any running back off the bench in Rutgers history in its Aug. 29 opener at Fresno State. Head coach Kyle Food named James the team’s starter four days later.

“It does feel good,” James said Monday. “I always like to be counted on as that guy: the guy that could be put in that situation that people can trust.”

James’ change of fortune literally happened overnight, as Rutgers’ four-hour-plus meeting with Fresno State stretched into Friday morning on the East Coast. His 21 rushes and yardage totals were by far career highs.

He hasn’t felt this way since he carried a football three years ago in Glassboro.

“When I’m out there, it was a great feeling, just being out there in that atmosphere,” James said. “When I hit the first long run, it brought me back to old memories of high school. I was hitting my groove.”

It was a welcome sign for Flood, whose team rushed for only 171 total yards in its final three games last season — all losses.

He welcomed a new zone-blocking scheme to rectify issues. He endorsed Savon Huggins, the team’s firm backup a season ago, as his starter days after the season ended. And he reworked the team’s offensive line weeks before its season opener.

It led, of all things, to James’ 8.3 yards per carry against the nation’s 76th-ranked run defense in 2012.

“I think Paul’s done a great job and certainly his production in the last game, he earned the right to go out there first in the game,” Flood said. “The plan, going forward, is still to play two, and possibly three runs backs in the game and the production will dictate the carries.”

James understands how fleeting success can be. He need only look to Huggins, whose 179-yard performance last year at Cincinnati has been the highlight of a once-promising career.

Huggins rushed six times in Fresno, Calif., for 15 carries.

James would have likely begged for such production as a high school senior.

The 6-foot, 210-pound James’ Rivals.com profile does not have a picture. It’s a standard black and gold backdrop, normally reserved for recruits without much information. It does not list any scholarship offers.

He is, at least tentatively, a starter at a school entering the Big Ten in less than a year.

“I know a lot of players that have definitely been overlooked in high school,” James said. “It makes me wonder what they look at. Recruiting to me doesn’t define a player. You can always come to a school and not produce.”

Rutgers knows the feeling all too well.

It has pitched its hopes with several backs in the post-Ray Rice era — an unfair launching point — and few have materialized. One could’ve remained on Rutgers’ roster this season, but he is now on an NFL practice squad.

James, meanwhile, has his supporters. He said he communicated regularly with the offensive line in training camp. It manifested in four runs of more than 10 yards, including a career-high 65-yarder.

NOTES: Rutgers will wear an all-white uniform with a white helmet Saturday against Norfolk State for the first time in recent memory, Flood said. … Defensive tackle Kenneth Kirksey is suspended one game for a violation of team policy. It leaves three tackles with playing experience in Rutgers’ rotation. … Starters Paul Carrezola (undisclosed), Andre Civil (undisclosed) and Jamil Merrell (foot) are all game-time decisions.